This application is based on and incorporates herein by reference Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 11-220246 filed on Aug. 3, 1999.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seat air conditioner of an automotive air conditioning system.
2. Description of Related Art
A front seat of a vehicle includes a reclining mechanism and a seat slide mechanism to adjust a seat position for a passenger. The reclining mechanism adjusts the reclining position of the seat back of the front seat, and the seat slide mechanism adjusts the seat position in the front and back direction.
As shown in FIG. 8, JP-U-59-164552 and JP-U-60-58053 disclose conventional seat air conditioners directly leading conditioned air to a front seat 100. Each seat air conditioner includes an air chamber 103 in a seat cushion 101, an air chamber 104 in a seat back 102, a connection duct 106, rotary ducts 107, 108, partition plates 109, 110, and flexible ducts 111, 112. The conditioned air is led from a front air-conditioner 105, through the connection duct 106, and into the air chambers 103, 104. The rotary ducts 107, 108 rotate with respect to the partition plates 109, 110 respectively, and the flexible duct 111, 112 stretch and contract for allowing the seat air conditioner to follow the front-back stroke of the front seat 100.
In a recent vehicle, a lift mechanism and a vertical adjust mechanism are provided. The lift mechanism adjusts the front-end height of the seat cushion for improving the foot area feeling of the passenger. The vertical adjust mechanism adjusts the seat position in the vertical direction. However, since the conventional seat air conditioner adjusts its position by only rotating the rotary ducts 107, 108, and stretching and contracting the flexible ducts 111, 112, the conventional seat air conditioner does not follow the vertical stroke of the front seat 100.
When the flexible ducts 111, 112 are formed in an accordion pipe, the flexible ducts 111, 112 are partially bent and crushed due to the front-back and vertical strokes of the seat cushion 101, so that the air passages therein are narrowed to increase the pressure loss. Thus, the heat loss of the conditioned air is increased, thereby lessing the cooling and heating performance of the air conditioner. Further, it is necessary to prepare a supplemental space where the flexible ducts 111, 112 will bend, and to enlarge a space between the floor surface and a seat frame supporting the seat cushion 101. Thus, there are still disadvantages about assembly and layout performances of the seat air duct under the front seat 100.
An object of the present invention is to provide a seat air conditioner effectively following front-back and vertical strokes of a passenger seat to improve a seat air conditioning performance.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a seat air-conditioning unit includes a first mechanism following a substantial front-back stroke of the passenger seat and a second mechanism following a substantial vertical stroke of the passenger seat independently. Thus, the seat air-conditioning unit effectively follows the front-back and vertical strokes of the passenger seat, so that a seat air duct is not bent nor squashed abnormally.
Since the seat air duct does not transform abnormally, an air passage formed in the seat air duct is not narrowed, thereby preventing a pressure loss at the seat air duct and improving the seat air conditioning performance.
Further, it is not necessary to prepare a supplemental space under the passenger seat, where the seat air duct will bend, thereby improving assembly and layout performances of the seat air-conditioning unit and the seat air duct 4.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a seat air conditioning unit includes an additional seat air-conditioning blower fan introducing the conditioned air toward the passenger seat. Thus, even when the amount of conditioned air from a front air conditioning unit is not sufficient, the conditioned air is efficiently introduced toward the passenger seat. As a result, air conditioning feeling for a passenger is further improved.